May 18, 2016

Afghanistan signs draft agreement with insurgent group

Reuters reports Afghanistan signed a draft agreement with the Hezb-e-Islami militant group on Wednesday in a move the government hopes could lead to a full peace accord with one of the most notorious warlords in the insurgency. Hezb-e-Islami leader Gulbuddin Hekmatyar is a veteran of decades of Afghan war and rights groups have accused his group of widespread abuses, particularly during the civil war of the early 1990s, when he briefly served as prime minister.The United States has also linked the group to al Qaeda and the Taliban and put Hekmatyar on its designated terrorist list.